12 Things You Don't Know About Queen Nefertiti

The Egyptian Empress, Queen Nefertiti, was one of the most influential women of the ancient times. She was the wife of famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaten. Queen Nefertiti was known for her beautiful appearance as well as remarkable leadership abilities. She was someone whom we call a beauty with brains today. The world knew about Queen Nefertiti from a very long time, but it had only seen her when a limestone bust of her was unearthed in Egypt, in 1912. The story of Queen Nefertiti is fascinating. She was one of the very few female rulers of Egypt along with the likes of Cleopatra. Discover more about Queen Nefertiti by reading these 12 little-known facts about her.

1.Queen Nefertiti Was More Than Just A Royal Wife

The beautiful Egyptian queen married famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Akhenaten, sometime between 13th and 14th century BC. In the beginning, she was just the lovely wife of a mighty Egyptian ruler! After spending a few months together, Akhenaten realized Nefertiti's incredible intelligence and gave her power to rule over the kingdom. She didn't disappoint him and went on to become one of the most dominant rulers of the ancient Egyptian kingdom. Akhenaten gave so much importance to Nefertiti that he gave her full charge of the royal court.

In addition to being a ruler and head of the royal court, Queen Nefertiti was also a high priestess who had access to holiest places of worship that were inaccessible for ordinary people. This was indeed a great achievement for her, as only men would enjoy such high ranks in the ancient times. Frankly speaking, becoming the head of religion is still a distant dream for women of this generation. In fact, many top religions of the world including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism have barred women from becoming a priest. Queen Nefertiti was able to do something a thousand years ago that women of this generation couldn't do.

Ancient Egyptians followed polytheism before the reign of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. They were praying to many Gods, and the royal couple didn't like it. They wanted to reform the age-old Egyptian polytheism with monotheism. They made Aten (Sun) one universal God and forced people to believe only in him. They wanted to abolish the idol worshipping culture. They shut the temples of the other Gods and did everything they could to make Egypt stick to their "One God" vision. Akhenaten and Nefertiti faced many problems doing so, but they stuck to what they believed until their end.